Is there anywhere to include languages you wouldn’t be comfortable interviewing in?

[Latteandaprayer]

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I speak Arabic at home and I’m proficient in Spanish, but general SDN wisdom is to not say you’re fluent in a language unless you can interview in it. I feel like I couldn’t hold an entire med school interview in Arabic, since that type of vocabulary never comes up at home (I’ve never had to explain to my parents that Hap4 is a transcription factor translated during the misfolded protein stress response—the entirety of my research). However, I feel more than comfortable holding basic conversations in Spanish and Arabic, and I can take a medical history in Arabic because I’ve always translated medical terminology for my parents.

Can I include these languages? Or is it better not to?

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Put down Arabic. If specifics of your research comes up, you can reasonably switch to English. You would/did publish in English right?

Only include Spanish if you think you can reasonably hold a conversation in Spanish since that one would be more likely for an interviewer to actually try (in my opinion).

 

[Catalystik]

I speak Arabic at home and I’m proficient in Spanish, but general SDN wisdom is to not say you’re fluent in a language unless you can interview in it. I feel like I couldn’t hold an entire med school interview in Arabic, since that type of vocabulary never comes up at home (I’ve never had to explain to my parents that Hap4 is a transcription factor translated during the misfolded protein stress response—the entirety of my research). However, I feel more than comfortable holding basic conversations in Spanish and Arabic, and I can take a medical history in Arabic because I’ve always translated medical terminology for my parents.

Can I include these languages? Or is it better not to?

The AMCAS application includes a drop-down list for you to choose among regarding varying levels of proficiency for each of your foreign and native languages that you decide to enter:

• Basic: I speak the language imperfectly and only to a limited degree and in limited situations. I have difficulty in or understanding extended conversations.
• Fair: I speak and understand well enough to have extended conversations about current events, work, family, or personal life. Native speakers notice many errors in my speech or my understanding.
• Good: I speak well enough to participate in most conversations. Native speakers notice some errors in my speech or my understanding, but my errors rarely cause misunderstanding.
• Advanced: I speak very accurately, and I understand other speakers very accurately. Native speakers have no problem understanding me, but they probably perceive that I am not a native speaker.
• Native/functionally native: I converse easily and accurately in all types of situations. Native speakers may think that I am a native speaker, too.